Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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122. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the shortage of early childhood care and education places in the Drumcondra, Griffith Avenue area of Dublin; and if more early childhood education and childcare places will be provided. [50540/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The availability of high-quality early learning and childcare is a key Government priority.

Since 2015, significant increases in State investment in early learning and childcare has given rise to a substantial growth in the numbers of children participating in these services. Every year, more than 100,000 children participate in the universal pre-school programme (ECCE) and the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) subsidises more than 80,000 children.

Before the onset of Covid-19, national data indicated that, on the whole, supply of early learning and childcare places was meeting demand, with evidence of undersupply for certain age groups and in certain areas.

Data gathered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic revealed lower demand for early learning and childcare, and reduced occupancy among early learning and childcare services.

My Department has continued to monitor early learning and childcare capacity, with a particular focus on monitoring Covid-19 impacts as public health restrictions have been lifted and on responding to the unmet early learning and childcare needs of families. Data captured earlier this year parallels the pre-Covid-19 context, whereby the supply of early learning and childcare places is meeting demand though there is evidence of undersupply for certain age groups including children under 3, and in certain areas.

In April of this year, City/County Childcare Committees (CCC) undertook a nationwide survey of capacity in early learning and childcare services. This survey was followed in May by the Annual Early Years Sector Profile Survey that is undertaken by Pobal.

Preliminary analysis of the latest data captured by CCC and Pobal reveal a drop in vacancy rates across the country – with the national vacancy rate now averaging at 13.3%. The overall vacancy rate in Dublin was 12.4% - though the vacancy rate for ECCE children in Dublin was slightly higher at 13.3%

The network of 30 CCC across the country, including Dublin City CCC are in a position to match children and families to services operating with vacant places. In addition, the CCC has been mobilised to engage proactively with services to identify vacant places and to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need. Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact Dublin CCC for assistance. Contact details for CCCs may be found on www.myccc.ie.

In addition to this, a range of other steps are being taken by my Department to address issues of under supply.

Some €70m has been allocated to my Department through the revised National Development Plan (NDP) – with the majority of this funding earmarked for new places.

Under the National Action Plan for Childminding, my Department has committed to opening up access to the NCS to parents who use childminders following the extension of regulation to childminders, which is expected to happen within the first 2-3 years of the Plan.

My Department, in partnership with the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government, is in the process of updating the 2001 Planning Guidelines for Local Authorities on Early Learning and Childcare Settings.

In addition, the new Core Funding scheme, introduced on 15 September, has given rise to a significant growth in capacity - with initial analysis showing a significant capacity growth for certain cohorts (such as babies and toddlers) and in areas where there has been significant pressure on places, including Dublin.

To meet the cost of this capacity growth, I recently announced that the original allocation for Core Funding will be increased to €259 million for Year 1 of the Scheme. In addition, the full year value of Core Funding will increase by €28 million to €287 million in Year 2 of the Scheme.

Funding earmarked for the Scheme in Year 2 will be informed by the emerging data from Year 1 and may focus on promoting further capacity expansion.